00:00Morgan Stanley is dealing with an embarrassing email misfire after Safra accidentally shared an internal list of over 100 investment
00:07banking deals the firm is pitching across Asia.
00:10The document included potential IPOs, private equity backers, and pause projects.
00:15In a statement to Bloomberg News, Morgan Stanley wrote, quote,
00:18We promptly took steps to address this inadvertent sharing of information, and we continue to engage with relevant parties.
00:24Let's get more with Bloomberg Chief Wall Street Correspondent Sri Nadarajan.
00:28I mean, Sri, I don't know where to start.
00:30How does something like this happen at a behemoth like Morgan Stanley, where presumably they have many controls to prevent
00:35this type of thing from happening?
00:39Let me start out with an ancient proverb.
00:42Let he who has never sent out a misfire email throw the first stone.
00:47Look, the prominent theme, prominent word across Wall Street today, and like one word we should all get comfortable with
00:53is schadenfreude.
00:54There will be a lot of people taking joy in Morgan Stanley's misfortune.
00:57But honestly, truly, this could happen to anyone.
01:00A hundred years ago, if you were in investment banking, perhaps this was not a likely outcome.
01:04But unfortunately, things like this happen.
01:07However, when you're in the business of investment banking, when you're at the very top end of it, you are
01:12the best in the business,
01:13especially in a place like Asia, where Morgan Stanley is a dominant bank.
01:17It is one of the top banks when it comes to IPOs.
01:20It is one of the top banks when it comes to Asia mergers and has had that top first place
01:24or the second place for the last several years.
01:26So for them to accidentally send out a list like this, that is a pipeline, not just of the Morgan
01:33Stanley pipeline for some of the most important deals,
01:35but that is a pipeline of some of the most important deals taking place in Asia.
01:39So it is most certainly embarrassing.
01:42It's also unfortunate.
01:43The only mitigating factor I can think of is if you leak a deal or two, perhaps you will have
01:49a furious counterparty or two.
01:51When you leak a hundred deals, hopefully you just get a collective shoulder shrug.
01:56May not be an easy outcome as that, but this is truly very unfortunate.
02:00I mean, that was my question.
02:01Like, where is this going to hit the bottom line from?
02:02Are they going to lose these relationships?
02:04Or to your point, I think that's the best point you made.
02:06It's just it's so big and bad that it's laughable.
02:08And it almost maybe brings people in to feel sorry for you.
02:11I mean, where do we think about who's going to benefit from this?
02:14And exactly, does this really hit any kind of bottom line from Morgan Stanley?
02:17I mean, if you think about it, some of the most sophisticated insider trading crime syndicates spend years trying to
02:24build up infrastructure,
02:25trying to get information on a pipeline of three, four, five, a dozen deals.
02:29And suddenly you have an accidental email that has a hundred deals.
02:32This is bad for the insider traders.
02:32This is bad for the insider traders.
02:34You're putting your life and sweat into doing crime.
02:37And then someone just sends it out there like this.
02:40Look, honestly, this is unfortunate.
02:42I can't imagine this having a serious hit on bottom line.
02:45Like, what are the hundred companies or 200 companies, if we're talking about a hundred mergers,
02:50what are they going to do?
02:51Completely drop Morgan Stanley and go to the next tier of banks?
02:54Again, Morgan Stanley is best in the business when it comes to Asia.
02:58Hopefully, people are able to look the other way and realize this was just a mistake.
03:03But doesn't it make deals more expensive?
03:05For example, if something in this, and I candidly have not looked through the list,
03:08but it's like, let's say you're targeting a public company and shares rally because of this.
03:12All of a sudden, that deal is a lot more expensive.
03:15Like, there are real-world consequences of having something like this leaked, right?
03:18Look, there will certainly be real-world consequences.
03:20It is clear, at least based on reporting, the fact that our reporters have already seen the document.
03:24There are people who are posting blurred accounts of it on Instagram and social media.
03:28The fact that an investment banking deal pipeline is going viral on social media that tells you everything.
03:34Yes, there will be real-world consequences.
03:36I'm just thinking about it from a human perspective and really, really hoping that there is some comfort for this
03:41Morgan Stanley staffer.
03:42I think that's an excellent way to look at it, Sri.
03:44You're so kind-hearted.
